Cool-Headed Jinchuuriki
by WuKoji
Summary: What if Naruto wasn't the dunce that he was always made out to be? What if he gained the intellect and calm traits of his father rather than the rash and stubborn traits of his mother? Join the Cool-Headed Naruto on his new journeys as he goes through life with a smarter mindset.
1. Chapter 1

A young blond awoke again in his own bed. He did not recall where he came from. All he knew was his name. He was given the name Naruto Uzumaki, but with no one sharing his family name, he was all alone.

Though having nothing, he was sharp to notice many things. It seemed like all of the villagers held deep hatred over him. He couldn't fathom why they did but he was able to come down to a few guesses. He figured his parents were very evil people and committed nasty crimes, or he came from an infamous clan that no one dared to speak of, or something that even he couldn't imagine. Regardless of the reason, he didn't waver. He knew that each person had a purpose in life and he would find his.

Continuing his day like any other, he went to the bathroom to use the toilet and brush up. Afterwards, he made himself some toast and eggs to start off the day. Once he finished his breakfast, he cleaned the dishes and made his bed.

Naruto then looked out the window. It was a beautiful day outside, yet he had no one he could share it with. Many kids his age avoided him so he didn't have friends to go play with. But, he knew that a lot of kids joined the Academy for ninja training around his age. Though he didn't know how to become a ninja, he always wanted to be. Maybe it was time to train again.

Naruto then put on his shoes and bolted towards the door. He was headed towards the woods where he could train in peace.

 _At the woods_

This wasn't Naruto's first time training in the woods. It was like his playground. He jumped around the trees and dashed to test his speed. If he hung out with other kids, he would realize that he's much more physically fit than they were. Most kids were spending time playing ninja or ball, but Naruto spent his in the woods training. He had even set up a target hanging from a tree branch for shuriken practice. Though he didn't have any ninja tools to use, Naruto spent a lot of his training running to collect rocks and stones that he could use to practice throwing shuriken.

Naruto had already practiced enough to hit the middle of the target from just standing still. He even managed to hit the target a few times while running laterally.

*gurgle gurgle*

Naruto stopped in his tracks. How much time had passed since he started training? He looked up at the sun and saw that it was late into the afternoon. He only ate his breakfast from before so he was naturally hungry. It was time to gather food.

Naruto ran about to gather wood and mushrooms. After gathering all he could find, he brought it to the river and set it aside. He then picked up some sharp sticks and a large rock. He threw the large rock into the river, and a few fish jumped up into the air. Naruto then threw the sharp sticks through the fish and pinned them to the other side of the river. He went to gather them and then started a fire with the wood he collected. He began cooking the fish on a stick along with some mushrooms on a stick. The smell was very appetizing. The smell almost made Naruto not realize that someone had approached him.

There was an old man sitting right next to Naruto observing him. Naruto looked at him and asked, "Who are you?"

The old man responded, "Who, me? I'm just an old man passing by." The old man then looked to his left where the fish were cooking.

*gurgle gurgle*

Naruto smirked as he heard the old man's stomach grumble. "Would you like to join me for dinner?"

"Oh that sounds wonderful," the old man replied. The two waited a little until the fish was done cooking and then began to dig in. As they were eating, the old man asked Naruto, "so what is a young boy, such as you, doing in this neck of the woods all alone?"

Naruto grinned. "I've just been training."

"Oh? And what are you training for?" the old man asked.

Naruto thought for a bit. "There's nothing I'm training for, but training will help me in the future. I'm better off training instead of doing nothing."

The old man looked at Naruto, a little disheartened by his words. "I figured someone your age would be playing around with other boys your age. Wouldn't that be more fun?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's better to train. All the other kids are probably with their parents training. This is a ninja village after all. But, I need to catch up to them."

"Why do you need to catch up to them?"

Naruto smiled at this. "Everyone has a purpose in life, I believe, and I think training will help me find my purpose. I can't find that purpose by doing nothing, right?"

The old man smiled. "You see those stars in the sky?" Naruto looked up at to what the old man was pointing at. "Each star is like our sun. The sheer vast amount of stars is incomprehensible. It's pretty incredible if you think about it. But, looking at this in perspective, one man's life may be insignificant, right?"

Naruto looked at the wise man. "You may be right. But, sometimes there are stars that shine so brightly that everyone can notice it. Don't most of us work hard so that we can shine as bright as the sun?" Naruto looked at the sky again and said, "But, you're right about one thing. My troubles don't seem that important in this grand world."

The old man looked at Naruto. He saw Naruto's optimism brimming out of him. This boy would definitely become great. Then he asked, "So, do you plan on joining the Academy? There's a lot to learn and plenty of people to meet."

"I hope I can."

"What do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you be able to?"

"There are many people out there that don't like me. For whatever reason, they seem to have it out to avoid me at all costs. Some don't let me enter their stores. So if they can do that, I don't know why they'd let me into the Ninja Academy."

The old man gave a reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry about that. The Academy won't stop you from entering it. If anyone's got a problem with that, then you tell them to come to me."

Naruto laughed a little. "I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn't want to put an old man like you through so much trouble."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Just think of it as a kind gesture, like the gesture you showed me by offering some food," the old man replied.

Naruto grinned. "Oh, okay. But, I don't even know your name, sir."

The old man started laughing. "That's right! How foolish of me to forget my manners. I'm Hiruzen Sarutobi. Can you tell me you name?"

Naruto smiled. "I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

After their introductions, the two of them began to converse some more and enjoyed the time they spent together. However, with time passing, the old man Hiruzen had to depart home for it was getting late. After he had left, Naruto had decided that it was time to head home and call it a day.

 _The Next Day_

Naruto woke up early again as usual. He remembered what the old man, Hiruzen, told him about joining the Academy and decided that he would register today. He quickly ate breakfast and locked up so he could leave to the Academy immediately. As soon as he locked his door, Hiruzen Sarutobi was outside to greet him.

"Good morning, Naruto," Hiruzen told Naruto.

Naruto smiled. "Good morning, Hiruzen."

Hiruzen laughed. "Naruto, children your age don't usually call people like me by our first names. They us 'old man' or 'gramps' or give us some fun nickname."

"But, I only met you yesterday."

Hiruzen smiled, "People can become friends in less time than you think."

Naruto thought for a little. "Okay, I think I understand now, Walking Dead."

Hiruzen face faulted at his new nickname. "Naruto, why would you call me that?!"

"Well nicknames are supposed have some relation to the person they are for. Your main feature is being old. Being really old and almost dead are almost the same. So I figured it would be a fun play on words if I said that you're so old that you're like a zombie, or someone who is dead and walking," Naruto said with a smile.

Hiruzen sighed at Naruto's disturbing logic. "Trying to explain to you why that is wrong would be far more tiring than I can imagine so for now you can just call me Hiruzen."

Naruto gave a questioned look, but he complied. "So, Hiruzen, what are you doing outside of my home?"

Hiruzen looked at Naruto with a surprised look. "I'm here to take you to the Academy, remember? We talked about this last night. Do you forget easily?"

Naruto didn't recall Hiruzen saying that he was actually going to come with him, but rather telling him to just tell them his name to the people running the Academy and that they'd give him clearance. "But wait, how did you even know where I lived?" Naruto examined Hiruzen's clothes and came up with a question from his quick observation. "Are you a feudal lord or something?"

Hiruzen found Naruto's quick analysis impressive. "I'm something like that. I'm guessing that my clothes gave it away, huh." Hiruzen was wearing his traditional Hokage apparel.

Naruto nodded. "Would someone of your position also be able to find out where I lived?" Naruto asked wondering how Hiruzen ended up at his doorstep in the first place.

"Haha, you're awfully cautious aren't you," Hiruzen said.

Naruto shook his head. "If you were going to do something bad to me, it would've happened when we were in the woods so I don't suspect anything malicious coming from you. I'm just observant."

Hiruzen nodded. The logic was sound. "Well, my occupation does let me know where you live, considering I am the Hokage."

Naruto gave him a puzzled look. "What's that?"

Hiruzen pointed to the faces on the mountain. "He's the leader of the village. Don't you see my face over there?"

Naruto nodded. He never knew that he would have met someone so important. But why would this Hokage go out of his way just for Naruto. Naruto didn't question it because he still wasn't sure what being the Hokage entailed.

"Now why don't we get on our way," the Third said to Naruto. Naruto nodded and they embarked on their way to the Academy.

While on route to the Academy, many villagers passed by Naruto and the Hokage. The villagers wanted to give hateful glares to Naruto, but instead gave a low bow towards the Hokage standing right next to him. Naruto noticed this and thought, 'Wow, Hiruzen wasn't joking when he said that he was important.'

 _At the Academy_

Naruto and the Third had finally reached the Academy. Naruto was in awe because he had never stepped foot inside it. The Third Hokage directed Naruto to the office and they entered together.

One staff member stood up and greeted the Third. "Lord Hokage, to what do I owe this delightful visit?"

The Third smiled. "Hello, I know that this is a little unorthodox, but I'm here to sign up this child for the Ninja Academy."

The staff member looked down and noticed Naruto standing right next to the Third Hokage. This staff member wasn't someone who hated Naruto, but actually felt bad for the child from the way he's been treated throughout the village. The staff member looked at Naruto and smiled. "And may I ask the child his name?"

Naruto looked back at the staff member and responded, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Well Naruto, it is a pleasure to meet you. As it so happens, today is the first day of classes and we have the opening ceremony in an hour. Would you like to attend it?"

Naruto nodded.

"Oh, it is customary for the children enrolling to have a parent or guardian accompany them to the ceremony," the staff member added.

Naruto looked down. He didn't have anyone to accompany him. But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. "I will be accompanying Naruto to the ceremony today," the Third said.

Naruto smiled at Hiruzen's response.

The staff member became a little confused. "Lord Hokage, aren't you the one who is running the ceremony today? How are you going to be accompanying Naruto and running the ceremony?"

Naruto's face immediately lost its happy complexion. He didn't realize that Hiruzen would be running the ceremony. But then Hiruzen spoke up, "like this."

The old Hokage then performed a plus hand sign with his fingers and there was a puff of smoke. Now there were two Hokages before Naruto.

Naruto was astounded by this. "What is this? Do you have a twin?"

The Thirds laughed. "No Naruto, this is a jutsu. It's a ninja technique, much like the ninja techniques that you'll learn at the Academy. This one is called the Shadow Clone Jutsu, which makes a solid clone of me. With this jutsu, I'll be able to accompany you to the ceremony while running the ceremony."

Naruto looked at the two Hokages and smiled. "Will I be able to do stuff like this in the Academy?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "This technique is far too advanced for anyone at the Academy. But, if you work hard enough, then you too can master techniques that are even greater than this one."

Naruto nodded. It looked like he had a lot to learn in his upcoming Academy days. The staff member then spoke up. "Most of the children won't get here until the ceremony starts. But, there are some children outside right now."

The Third crouched down next to Naruto. "Naruto, why don't you try and make some friends with the other kids outside?"

Naruto was a little hesitant because he had never communicated with any kids before. Most kids stayed clear of him for some reason. But, he was going to be a future classmate to them so it would be a good idea to get acquainted with them early. Naruto nodded and headed off.

Now that the staff member was with the Third Hokage, he said, "So that's the boy, huh."

The Third nodded. "Yes. I hope things go well for him."

"Thing won't be easy for him. The entire village just wishes for his death."

The Third sighed. "Yes. It's a shame that the villagers only see the demon inside instead of the little boy in front of them."

 _With Naruto Outside_

Naruto went outside to see some kids playing. They were running around and looked like they were enjoying themselves. Naruto then looked over to four people by a tree. There was a little girl with purple hair and a baggy coat that looked fearful of three boys surrounding her. Naruto walked closer to see what they were doing.

"Haha, you're a freak," one boy told the girl.

"You've got to be a monster to have eyes like that," another boy added.

The girl looked like she was about to cry from their continuous teasing. Naruto noticed her distress and pocketed some pebbles off the ground. He then ran in front of the girl and confronted the boys.

"Hey, what's your problem?"

"Yeah, you want to defend a freak like that?"

Naruto replied, "Do you not see that you guys are upsetting her? Why don't you leave her alone?"

"Heh? We just told you. Because she's a freak!"

Naruto gave cold eyes to them. "If she bothers you that much, then leave."

The three boys shuddered a little from Naruto's words, but they didn't back down. One of them spoke up. "Tch, you piss me off. Let's get him guys!" The three boys then began to attack Naruto.

Naruto acted fast and grabbed the pebbles from his pocket. He then threw some of them at the boys and they yelled in pain. The boys then thought that they'd get smart and picked up some pebbles to throw at him. But, as soon as they picked them up, Naruto threw a pebble at their hands so that they would drop the pebble.

"Arghh! Let's just go guys. He's not worth our time," one of the boys said while the three boys ran off.

Naruto watched as they ran off. For some reason, he had no patience for people like that. He then turned to the girl behind him. "Hey, are you alright?"

The girl, as shy as ever, replied, "Um, y-y-yes. Th-th-thank you."

Naruto smiled a little from her response. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said as he extended his hand out to her. "What's your name?"

The shy girl made a little smile and awkwardly took his hand. "I-I'm H-Hinata Hyuga."


	2. Chapter 2

"Nice to meet you, Hinata," Naruto said with a smile.

Hinata blushed at Naruto's smile. Never had anyone stood up for her before. Some Hyuga members of the Branch family had always walked her home and to places, but the kids never bullied her when they were around. To Hinata, Naruto was her first hero.

"There's still some time before the ceremony begins. Do you want to hang out for a bit?" Naruto asked Hinata.

Hinata nodded. The two then moved over to the shade and talked for a bit. Naruto learned that Hinata came from the famous Hyuga clan and learned a few things about being a clan member. Naruto had never heard of the clan, but he did know that other children belonged to various clans, so Hinata's information was enlightening. Hinata wanted to learn more about Naruto, but he didn't really have much to offer. He said that he lived alone and that he wants to be a great ninja. Hinata grew disheartened when she heard that Naruto was all alone, but smiled when he said he wanted to be a great ninja.

The bell rang and that meant that everyone had to line up for the ceremony. Hinata ran off to go look for her father so Naruto waved bye to her. Naruto then scouted around to look for Hiruzen. As soon as he spotted him, Naruto dashed towards him.

"Ah, there you are Naruto," Hiruzen said as Naruto approached him. "Did you make any new friends?"

Naruto nodded with a smile. "Yeah, this girl named Hinata Hyuga became my friend." Hiruzen was a little shocked that his first friend would be from the prestigious Hyuga clan, but was happy for Naruto. "She was really nice. I hope we can hang out a lot in the Academy."

Hiruzen nodded. "Don't worry, Naruto. You'll have a lot of time to spend with her and your many new friends that you'll make at the Academy. Now, let's line up like those other families for the ceremony." Naruto obeyed.

After everyone lined up, the second Hiruzen walked out of the Academy and stood before the families. "Welcome, all to this year's entrance ceremony. As you all know, we nurture and teach the young ones that want to follow the shinobi path and eventually bring them up to be fully fledged shinobi. This school's founder, our very own Second Hokage, wanted a safe way for ninja to grow. Back in my day, before the village was even created, our teachers were the battlefields we fought on. Many senseless battles took place and life was a real struggle. But, we've made great strides since then and have come to this point where people can study ninjutsu in peace. I see before me, many ninja with lots of potential. Before long, I may see you all in my office as I assign you missions. Haha, but I get ahead of myself." The Third Hokage laughed off his joke and cleared his throat to speak again. "If you follow the Academy's rules, then I think you'll be successful ninja in no time. Love the village and hope to preserve peace and prosperity. Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work. And, be healthy in mind and body. And with that, I welcome you future ninja to your first day at the Academy!"

After he finished his speech, Hiruzen was met with applause while the children cheered, happy that they were at the Academy. Naruto was smiling as he heard Hiruzen finish his speech. A teacher then came out and took over to speak about the Academy to the parents and future students. He explained generally what to expect from the Academy. Some other teachers began walking around to greet some parents. One teacher was talking to the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha, about how happy he was to receive another child of his as a student.

While the teachers spoke with the parents, Naruto suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto turned with the real Hiruzen smiling at him. "Well, Naruto, you're finally a student at the Academy. How do you feel?"

Naruto grinned. "I feel pretty good. I think that it's going to be a very educating experience."

"Is that so? Haha, why don't you go on inside with the other kids? You all will be having class in a moment."

Naruto complied. He ran inside the Academy while Hiruzen began to talk with all of the other parents. Once inside, Naruto met Hinata in the hallway. Naruto then saw the other kids running to a classroom, and Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and they ran with the others inside.

Once they were inside the classroom, Naruto and Hinata found seats up top and sat down like the rest of the children. Many of them looked so excited to start class. Others were happy that they were with their friends. Naruto was paying attention to every minute detail. As far as he knew, he believed that his skills were nowhere near the skills of the other kids. He wanted to make sure that he did well so that he could improve his skills.

A teacher wearing the Leaf Ninja uniform walked inside and proceeded towards the big desk in the front. He brought a large book and slammed it down, silencing the students.

He then spoke, "Hello everyone, welcome to the Academy. We will now proceed with attendance, so say that you're here when I call your name."

The teacher went through the names and all the kids replied happily. The teacher hesitated a little when he got to Naruto's name, but still proceeded with attendance. Once he finished, he went to the closet and pulled out a bunch of notebooks and pencils.

"Okay guys, now that you are all students, you're going to have to study hard. A great ninja is well educated, so I want each of you to come down and grab a notebook and pencil because note-taking starts today!" Most of the children groaned when they heard of this. Naruto, however, smiled and was very eager to learn.

The children proceeded to get their notebooks and returned to their seats. The teacher then began his lecture on the history of ninja. This went on for an hour and then finally finished.

"Okay, guys. It's time for a break. We are going to do practical training right now. Let's go outside!" After the teacher finished, the kids cheered. They were so happy that they could go outside and could get away from the boring lecture.

The instructor then took everyone outside to the track. "Alright, to start off, let's run 20 laps around the track! You don't have to go as fast as you can, but you should be going at a relatively quick pace!" Some kids grew disheartened when they heard that this was just going to be running. One kid in particular with a ponytail groaned that this was way too much work. "Ready! Begin!"

Everyone started to run, but one student in particular was going by pretty fast. Naruto was speeding by most of them. But, as he was running, one person was catching up to him. A boy with black hair in a black shirt and white shorts was trying his best to keep up with Naruto. Naruto was wondering why most of the kids were running so slowly, but he paid them little to no mind. Naruto then sped up a little and made a big gap between the boy and him.

When Naruto finished, the other kids were still running. The teacher was astounded by Naruto's speed. Usually kids needed to develop that kind of speed at the Academy, but Naruto was unnaturally fast. The teacher, of course, didn't think Naruto could outrun him, but it wouldn't be easy if they were to race.

It didn't take long for Naruto to lap the kids a few times. When he finished, the kids were finishing their tenth lap. He patiently waited for the kids to finish, but was confused why they decided to run so slowly. He heard them breathing hard and panting, so he thought that they must have trained really hard earlier in the day and are just that tired from their earlier training.

All the other boys were giving Naruto a glare, thinking that he was a show-off. Some of the girls were thinking that Naruto was pretty cool. Hinata thought that Naruto was amazing.

The boy with black hair felt ashamed of himself for letting Naruto outshine him in this race. He knew that he would have to work hard to catch up to his older brother's level, but now there's someone his age that he has to catch up to first. He walked up to Naruto and asked, "What's your name?"

Naruto turned and replied, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki." The girls were interested and glad that they learned his name. "And what's your name?"

Sasuke gave him a hard look. "I am Sasuke of the Uchiha clan." Many girls looked at Sasuke and thought he looked cool and cute, too.

Naruto smiled a little. He was going to ask Sasuke more about the Uchiha clan, but the teacher stepped in. "Alright guys, good work. We are going to stretch and then move on to more exercises." The students then proceeded to stretch. Naruto wasn't familiar with all of the stretches they were doing, and found himself a little stiff when trying some of them. He was nevertheless grateful, though, that he was getting to learn more to become an effective ninja.

"Alright, now that we are done with stretches, I want you guys to partner up and do 50 sit-ups. When you are done, do 50 push-ups. When you are done with that, do 50 squats. Then we'll wrap up our time outside." The children moaned, but nevertheless complied.

Naruto partnered up with Hinata and he held her ankles while she did her 50 sit-ups. Then, Hinata held Naruto's ankles for him to do his 50 sit-ups. Then they both began their push-ups. Naruto looked around to see what a push-up was, and then followed what the kids were doing. He did the same for the squats. When they were all finished with the exercises, most of the kids were sweating a lot. Naruto, on the other hand, barely broke a sweat.

The teacher was pretty surprised by how Naruto's physical abilities outshined the skills of the other students' by so much. Normally it would take almost the entirety of a student's time at the Academy to get their skills to that level. He wondered what his combat skills would be like. "Before we wrap up, let's do some sparring."

The students were getting excited. They haven't fought yet and they thought that this was going to be a lot of fun. Naruto was intrigued also because he was eager to know what the other students' skills were. The teacher began to explain how they'd spar one on one against someone of their choice. He taught the ceremony to begin a match and how you end one, emphasizing that the sparring match was respectful and showed a certain bond between the two that sparred. He then asked who wanted to spar first.

Sasuke immediately shot up. "I want to spar with you, Naruto."

Naruto got up and couldn't hide his little smile. "Alright, I'll spar."

"Don't forget to show your respect to your opponent," the teacher told Naruto and Sasuke. They both complied and showed their respect. Then the match began. The girls didn't know who to root for, and the boys were just glaring at how all the attention was focused on Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke charged at Naruto with a kick. Naruto blocked the kick with his arm and threw a punch at Sasuke. Sasuke ducked underneath the punch and grabbed Naruto's shirt, throwing him over his shoulder. Naruto did a flip in midair and managed to land on his feet. Sasuke tried to do a sweep kick at Naruto's feet. It landed, and Naruto fell. Sasuke was about to slam his fist into Naruto, but Naruto rolled away. He then got up and regained his form. Sasuke charged again and Naruto ducked, throwing Sasuke over his shoulder. Sasuke wasn't ready for the throw and landed flat on his back. Naruto, looking at his hands, was happy that he pulled off the throw for the first time. But, this let Sasuke get back up. Naruto quickly charged at Sasuke, using his arms to make it look like he was going for a punch. Sasuke instinctively blocked, and Naruto took this chance to do a sweep kick at Sasuke's feet. Sasuke fell back onto his back, and Naruto slammed a fist into Sasuke's gut. Sasuke gasped for air, and laid on the ground in pain. Naruto waited for Sasuke to get up, but Sasuke took a little while to get up. The teacher raised his arm, declaring the match over.

Naruto gave a little smile and began to show his respect to Sasuke. Sasuke gave his respect to Naruto, but gave a glare at him. Naruto noticed and spoke up. "Are you okay?" Naruto thought that Sasuke might be hurting a lot.

Sasuke gave a cold reply. "I'm fine."

"Oh," Naruto said. Naruto wasn't completely convinced, but he thought he could be reading Sasuke's expressions wrong. He decided to let it go.

The teacher was really shocked by Naruto's display of skills. At first, it looked like Naruto didn't know how to fight, but then he started copying Sasuke's techniques and acquired the upper hand. This kid was really strong for someone his age. The teacher had hoped that Naruto would be someone he could ignore, but with skills that good, it would be pretty bad to ignore him.

A few other students sparred. Some kids were too afraid to spar. A large bulk of girls surrounded Naruto, congratulating him on his match and praising him for his skills. Naruto assumed that they were being nice, so he thanked them for their compliments. But he told them that he would have to work hard to catch up to everyone else's level. The girls laughed a bit and thought that Naruto's modesty was cute. Naruto wasn't sure why they laughed, but paid it no mind.

After the sparring, the teacher said that they would return to the classroom and break for lunch. Most people wanted to eat with their friends. Naruto decided to eat with Hinata. Naruto noticed that Sasuke was eating alone, so he told Hinata that they should join Sasuke. Hinata agreed and they walked over to where Sasuke was sitting.

Sasuke noticed them and asked, "What do you guys want?"

"It's better to eat with others, right? So why don't we eat together?" Naruto responded.

Sasuke didn't have anything to retort considering Naruto and Hinata already sat down. Hinata brought a nice bento and Sasuke brought some rice balls. Naruto merely watched them eat.

Sasuke saw this and said, "What? Are you so strong that you don't need to eat anything?"

Naruto put a hand behind his head and chuckled. "Ah, no. I didn't have any food to bring today so I don't have any food today."

Sasuke and Hinata looked perplexed. "Doesn't your mom pack you a lunch?" Sasuke asked. Hinata's face began to grow sad. She already knew what Naruto's response was going to be.

Naruto gave a small smile. "Ah, I bet she would if she was here. But, everyone in my family is dead except me."

Sasuke choked a little on his rice ball. He thought he just stepped on a landmine. Hinata was looking really sad from Naruto's comment and looked like she wanted to cry. She already knew that Naruto was all alone, but hearing it still made her heart feel heavy. Sasuke said, "I'm sorry." He then put a rice ball in his hand and offered it to Naruto.

"Ah, but that's your food. I don't want to impose," Naruto replied.

Sasuke gave him a smile. "You idiot, just take the food. A smart ninja eats to make sure they can keep up their strength." Hinata also smiled and offered some of her food to Naruto. She didn't say anything for being too shy, but Naruto was able to understand what she was trying to convey.

Naruto gave a little smile. "Thanks!" He then took the rice ball and some of the food that Hinata offered and the three of them ate their food in bliss.


End file.
